Manuscripts holdings is one of the world's richest collections of written landmarks of national and world culture from ancient Egyptian papyri to autographs of our contemporaries. The manuscripts held by the National Library of Russia comprise of over 1400 private archives and collections that today number more than 450 000 valuable items for all periods and countries.

The library's stock of rare books contains more than 70 000 volumes. An appreciable portion of those are incunabula (books printed before 1501): about 7 000 works. The library has no rival for its stock of early Russian printed books and Slavonic incunabula, it also holds a large amount of West European publications from the 16th and 17th century. The most remarkable among collections are Aldine editions of the 15th - 16th centuries and Elseviers produced by the celebrated 17th/century Dutch family firm. The Rare Books Department can boast Voltaire's Library, the unique monument of 18th century culture, that is one of some well surviving private libraries of that time.

The National Library's collection of printed maps and atlases is the second largest in the country, comprising more than 180,000 items printed in Russia and abroad from the sixteenth century to the present. It incudes maps, atlases, reproductions of manuscripts, globes, electronic cartographic publications.

A unique photographic collection of the Prints Department is a true chronicle of the life of Russia since the second half of the 19th . It includes portraits from the 1850s, photographic views of cities and other places since the 1850s, photos on various subjects from the 1860s, photographic reproductions of works of art.

MOSAIC PICTURE OF ST. PETERSBURG

Introduction

The collection of Russian and foreign maps of the city of St. Petersburg, housed in the National Library of Russia, has no equal in Russia. It comprises more than 1400 items ranging from the early years of the 18th century to the present. The collection makes it possible to trace the history of the city, stages of its development from the very first years. Moreovere, thematic plans of the city clearly reflect the multifaceted look of the northern capital.

The city plans of the 18th - 20th centuries form a separate collection. Its first curator N.K. Shablaeva (1917 - 2009) compiled the outstanding union catalogue «Printed Plans of Petersburg - Petrograd. 1703 - 1917», published in Leningrad in 1966. The catalogue became classic. It includes more than 800 descriptions of plans that are now stored in different institutions in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Plans of Leningrad and modern Petersburg are also part of the holdings of the Cartographic Department.

In recent years, we have carried out extensive works on the digitization of rare cartographic publications.

The first collection to be digitized routinely was the collection of printed plans of Saint Petersburg, the largest of that kind in our city. One of results of these digital projects was the creation of an electronic album «MOSAIC PICTURE OF ST. PETERSBURG. 300 Years on Plans and Maps», issued to mark the 300th anniversary of the northern capital.
It has zooming capabilities which can be used for increasing an image and showing the smallest details of the plan, sometimes, hardly visible on the original. It is also possible to search maps by author and publisher, period and subjects.

Schwartz R.Е. Map of the territory now occupied by St. Petersburg, made in 1698, before it was gained by Peter the Great, including contemporary Swedish fortifications. - St. Petersburg : А. Ilyin's Cartographic Establishment, [1872]. - 1 sh. 22х27 сm.
Lithograph.
View in the electronic library

Pickaerdt P. Map of the Eastern Part of the Gulf of Finland. 1703; Scaled map of the entry to the Baltic from Brocklom up to Strelna, East Finnish, and from Parna up to Schlotburg. - Shlisselburg, Moscow : Mobile Engraving Workshop, Kremlin Armoury, [1703]. - 1 sh. Copperplate ; 51х62 cm
View in the electronic library

Cartouche, depicting Neptune and the gods of four Russian seas, symbolizes the adding the Baltic Sea to the three seas that Russia already had.
View in the electronic library

Truskott I. F. Plan of the Capital City of St. Petersburg with the Depiction of its Most Distinctive Views, published through the efforts of the Imperial Academy of Science and Arts. - Saint-Petrsburg : Academy of Science, 1753. - 1 vol. : Copperplate ; 53х38 cm View in the electronic library

Roth Ch. M. New Plan of the Capital City and Fortress of St. Petersburg. The original drawing of this plan in the archive is the main police. - Saint Petersburg, 1776. - 1 sh. Copperplate. Hand-painted ; 44,5х52 cm
View in the electronic library

Historical Plans of the Capital City of St. Petersburg from 1714 to 1839, published at command of His Majesty Emperor / Cutted in stone by Agafonov. - Saint Petersburg : Lithographed at the Department of Military. Settlements, 1843. - 1 atlas (7 sheets with maps, 1 title sheet) : lithograph, hand-painted. ; 42х29 cm, in the hard cover 48х60 cm. + Supplement: Explanation to the Historical Plans of the Capital City of St. Petersburg from 1714 to 1839, published at command of His Majesty Emperor (276 pp.; 23х15 cm)
View in the electronic library

Plan for Regulated Development of St. Petersburg. Approved by the Emperor on 7 March 1880. - Saint Petersburg : City Council, 1877-1879]. - 22 sh. : coloured ; 53х83 (69х101) cm View in the electronic library

Absolute (with the division into the table, and ordinary) and the per capita monthly consumption of wine in the city of St. Petersburg (for 1898-1903) and Moscow (for 1902 and 1903).
View in the electronic library

Plan of the City of Petrograd Showing a Freight Bypass Line designed by the engineer Tokarski. - Петроград, [1914-1916?]. - 1 sh. Lithograph ; 53х50 cm
View in the electronic library

Plan of the City of Petrograd Showing the Tram Lines at 1, 2 and 3 Stages. - Petrograd, [1914-1916?]. - Lithograph ; 53х50 cm
View in the electronic library

Plan of the City of Petrograd Showing Projects of Underground Tracks in the First Variant. - Petrograd, [1914-1916?]. - 1 sh. Lithograph ; 53х50 cm
View in the electronic library

Plan of the City of Leningrad, Divided into Districts, Compiled according to the Latest Official Sources. - Leningrad : 1922-1925. - 1 vol. (borders of districts, 9 sheets of the plan of the city divided into districts).+ List of streets, lanes, squares, etc. (17 pp.) ; 26х16 cm
View in the electronic library